The enigmatically named Pourquoi Pas? (why
not?) came
from an event in Charcot's childhood when he was
said to have written the words on the side of a soapbox and then launched
himself in it onto a miniature pool at Neuilly-sur-Seine (France) where he
was born and brought up. The box sank and he got wet, but it was the first
of many voyages.

Charcot began preparing for his second Antarctic
expedition almost as soon as he arrived back from his first on the
Français in 1905.
It was far from clear whether or not the Antarctic Peninsula, a large
portion the west coast of which had been surveyed by Charcot on his first
voyage was indeed a part of the Antarctic Continent or simply a collection
of islands.

The findings of his first voyage were well received by the
scientific community and he submitted a prospectus for a further voyage to
the French Académie de Sciences which was in turn well received. Charcot was
riding on a wave of goodwill from the French Government and people, the
overall budget was a fairly modest 800,000 francs (around £34,000) which was
met largely (600,000 francs) from the governmental "Budget of the Ministry
of Public Instruction". Other donations came from various sources, many of
them public from Chambers of Commerce of several major French cities that
no-doubt wished to be associated with France's latest hero at a time when
international Polar heroics were a regular feature.

Further gifts of money, equipment and stores came from
private manufacturers and foreign governments, such as those of Monaco (a
complete oceanographic outfit), Brazil, Chile and Argentina. In particular
the array of scientific instruments was the best ever carried by a polar
expedition. Three naval officers were placed under Charcot's command by the
Ministry of Marine and coal, instruments, maps and other materials also
donated.

Initially Charcot tried to re-purchase the
Français sold to the
Argentinean government at the end of his first voyage, but it was being
prepared for use by Argentina's own Antarctic programme. The next
thought was to purchase and convert a whaler or sealer from the Arctic
fleet, but there was no suitable vessel. Eventually he turned once again to
Pere Gautier of St.Malo who had so successfully built the Français.

Gautier presented an estimate for the construction of the
Pourquoi Pas? which while modest for what it represented used up about half
of Charcot's budget. Having learned from the first voyage, the Pourquoi Pas?
was to be stronger and faster than the Français. She was built with thicker
ribs and more of them than normal ships of her size, the ribs were covered
with a double layer of thick planking, interior planking made an interior
hull that was itself watertight. The ship was made entirely of oak other
than the bilge of Elm and she was given a quality engine of 450 horsepower.
The interior was provided with electric lighting and an effective heating
system for the living areas. The Pourquoi Pas? was a fine ship much admired
by those who fully appreciated her.

The men also had the best of available cold-weather
clothing and were equipped with yellow-tinted snow goggles (no-one developed
snow-blindness unless during the earlier expedition). There were also three
motor cars that Charcot had been persuaded to take, though they were never
used as ice surfaces were unsuitable.

The
second French Antarctic Expedition aboard the Pourquoi Pas? sailed from Le
Havre on the 15th of August 1908. She had twenty-two crew, of whom eight
had been aboard the Français (such was the loyalty that Charcot engendered)
and including Charcot's recent wife Meg (on his return from the Français
expedition, his first wife had divorced him citing desertion. Charcot then
lived with his also recently divorced sister for a while vowing never to
marry again - but he was fortunate to meet a woman who realised that
adventure was an integral part of the man). Meg (Marguerite) remained with
the ship as far as Punta Arenas at the southernmost tip of Patagonia, before
returning to France.

The ship left Punta Arenas on December the 16th 1908 to
the sounds of French and Chileans ashore shouting "Vive la France" . She
headed first to the whaling station on Deception Island where Charcot was
pleased to see the Norwegian and Chileans using the charts of the Northern
Graham land Peninsula that he had made on his first voyage.

On the 29th of December, the Pourquoi Pas? reached the bay
where the Français had wintered in 1904, Charcot was surprised in going
ashore to find that things were much as they had been left:

"I feel as though I've never been
away".

On January the 1st a sheltered harbour was found at
Peterson Island that was named Port Circumcision.

On January the 4th Charcot, Gourdon and Lieutenant Godfrey
set out to reconnoitre Cape Tuxen and the nearby islands in a small
motorboat in good weather but without any extra provisions or clothing. They
thought they would be back aboard their ship within three hours, five hours
later, they had eaten most of the food they had with them. Sea-ice drifted
in between them and the ship and the weather turned to snow and sleet driven
by a biting wind. The motor became clogged with ice formed by falling
temperatures, Godfroy started to hack away at it with a spade, but to his
horror dropped the spade through his cold-clumsy fingers. Resignedly, they
went ashore where they waited for three days until conditions were good
enough for the ship to be able to approach and effect a rescue.

Within 24 hours in the middle of a meal while recounting
the tale of their isolation and rescue, history repeated itself and the
Pourquoi Pas? hit a submerged rock in a similar way to the Français in a
place not too far from where the Français had been. The stern deck was
flooded underwater and pieces of the false keel had been ripped off and
floated to the surface. The bow was pinned down from the weight of anchors
and chains.

The bow was emptied as best as could be managed to other
parts of the ship or into boats and the plan was to float the ship off the
rocks when the tide came in. Surely enough and with much grinding and noise,
the ship floated off the rocks and made to a sheltered harbour where repairs
were made, though there was a a small leaks, the pumps coped with it easily.
Charcot decided to continue as before unaware how badly damaged the ship
was.

The Pourquoi Pas? continued to sail south, crossing the
Antarctic Circle at the end of January. Much work was done in charting coast
and islands, features were identified and named. In particular Adelaide
Island previously said to be 8 miles long was shown to actually be 70 miles
long - testament to the difficulties in gauging visual perception in polar
regions where clarity of the air can mean that mountains 10's or a hundred
miles distant can be seen easily. Progress was at once hampered by a
proliferation of huge icebergs, but aided by many days of fine calm weather.
Charcot discovered and named Marguerite Bay south of Adelaide Island after
his wife and Jenny Island after Bongrain's wife, landings were made and a
small party climbed to 1500 feet where the coast could be seen extending
into the distance, this was named Fallières Land (now the Fallières coast)
after the French President at the time.

By the end of January, the ship had made it back to the
harbour at Port Circumcision, Petermann Island, this was to be where the
winter camp was to be made. Charcot had hoped to
winter in Matha Strait to the south of Adelaide Island, but ice conditions
necessitated a retreat to a known secure position. Unloading the instruments
alone took the best part of a month. Four huts were erected and lit by
electricity generated on the ship, the wires were carried aloft on bamboo
poles from ship to huts. Heavy steel-wire hawsers were strung across the 275
ft entrance to the bay to stop icebergs from entering. The ship was secured
in place and the decks tented over with canvas.

The late summer season weather was unseasonably warm with
melt streams in February and rain in late March. Early April brought lower
temperatures, but the living areas of the ship were unheated until mid April
to try and conserve coal causing chilblains in many of the men, these
disappeared when these areas began to be heated. Hyacinths, onions and
watercress were grown under the wardroom skylight as late as April while
there was still enough light to do so.

To pass the time as autumn gave way to winter after dinner
classes were held in mathematics, grammar, English, first aid and almost any
other subject that there was sufficient expertise amongst the crew for
someone to share their knowledge the "Antarctic Sporting Club" was founded
for ski and sledge races could be held, medals were cut from food boxes and
cans and given to the victors. A particularly popular diversion were
readings from Rouche of his novel as it was written "The Typists Lover".

In mid June a ferocious storm broke, the ship strained
against its moorings and jammed against a rock. Ice blocks swept into the
harbour and one broke away 2/3rds of the rudder which was unshipped and
repaired only with great difficulty. Midwinter brought general malaise and
depression, similar afflictions that had affected the crew of the Belgica
during the winter. Charcot in particular became ill and he diagnosed himself
with a serious heart condition, his legs became badly swollen and he
struggled to breathe without pain. A regime of fresh meat, exercise and
antiscorbutics (foods with vitamin C taken against scurvy) was undertaken
which had a positive effect.

The major expedition of the spring was to have included
Charcot, but he was still too ill and so on September the 18th a party of
six was sent to survey Graham Land without him. They reached 16 miles from
the ship, finally accepting they could go no further in a spectacular place
they named the "Amphitheatre of the Avalanches".

More local trips continued to be made and there was plenty
to occupy the scientists in the immediate vicinity, though several men still
fell ill and needed to be put onto the antiscorbutic regimen. Charcot still
was too unwell to go very far from the ship. They left their winter quarters
on the 25th of November sailing for Deception Island to resupply their coal
reserves as they had insufficient for a second winter. Amongst news they
received was that Ernest Shackleton, earlier the same year - 1909, had
reached 97 miles of the South Pole, the North Pole had been reached by the
American Robert E. Peary in April 1909 and a Frenchman, Louis Blériot, had
made the first powered flight across the English Channel.

The Pourquoi Pas? was now leaking more and more and the
Norwegians offered the services of a diver who inspected the damaged hull. A
large section of the keel had been torn away along with other damage,
Charcot was advised to sail for home straight away as even ice-free
navigation had its risks and even a modest encounter with ice might sink the
ship. In a move of uncharacteristic recklessness, he chose to sail south
once again to uphold his nation's honour and personal reputation, he did not
share the information about the ship fully with his officers and crew. On
the 23rd of December 1909 he sailed south once again.

By the 11th of January 1910 they were sailing towards the
south of Alexander Island at about 70°S, 77'W when Charcot made his most
important land discovery that he named Charcot Land after his father. They
tried to approach closer, but the ice precluded it and further damage to the
ship could not be risked. On the 22nd of January, the ship turned north and
headed for South America arriving in Punta Arenas to congratulatory
telegrams from all over the world on the 11th of February. She underwent
extensive repairs in Montevideo (Uruguay), was scrubbed and painted in
the Azores and was back in France on the 4th of June, reaching Rouen on the
5th.

The results of the second French Antarctic Expedition had
been impressive, 1250 miles of coastline and newly discovered territory had
been surveyed. The maps made from the expedition were still in use
twenty-five years later. The scientific data filled 28 volumes, including
some of the 3000 photographs taken during the expedition.

Charcot in the words of others:

(Charcot's expeditions)
"Occupy a place in the front rank of the
most important Antarctic expeditions. No one has surpassed him and few
have equalled him as a leader and as a scientific observer"Edwin
Swift Balch.

"The gentleman of the Pole".
Robert Falcon Scott

I was a FID for two winters (1962-64) at
Base F. In your History pages you
mention many distinguished explorers but make no mention of Charcot
and his Voyage of the Pourquoi Pas? off the coast of Graham Land
(amends now made! - webmaster). He
based his exploration (in the winter of 1909) on Peterman Island and
a metal plaque on a cairn there records the members of his team.
With two colleagues, I was (as far as I know) the first since then
who tried to follow in the footsteps of Charcot. We were attempting
to find a route onto the Graham Land Plateau for dog teams. We
failed but did the first ascent of the nearby Mount Shackleton.
Robert (Bob) Lewis - by email

Landmarks named after the Pourquoi
Pas?

Feature Name: Pourquoi Pas? GlacierFeature Type: glacier Latitude: 66°15'S
Longitude:
135°55'E Description: Glacier 4 mi wide and 15 mi long,
flowing NNW from the continental ice and terminating in a prominent
tongue 9 mi WNW of Pourquoi Pas Point. Delineated by French
cartographers from air photos taken by USN OpHjp, 1946-47. Named in 1952
by the French Antarctic Sub-committee after the Pourquoi-Pas?

Feature Name: Pourquoi Pas? Island Feature Type: island Latitude: 67°41'S
Longitude:
067°28'W Description: Mountainous island, 17 mi long and
from 5 to 11 mi wide, lying between Bigourdan and Bourgeois Fjords off
the W coast of Graham Land. Discovered by the FrAE under Charcot,
1908-10. The island was charted more accurately by the BGLE under
Rymill, 1934-37, who named it for Charcot's expedition ship, the
Pourquoi-Pas?

Feature Name: Pourquoi Pas Point Feature Type: summit Latitude: 66°12'S
Longitude:
136°11'E Description: Ice-covered point which forms the W
side of the entrance to Victor Bay. Charted by the FrAE, 1950-52, and
named in 1954 for the French polar ship Pourquoi-Pas?